Mystic Falls Redux Outtakes
by nekilarose
Summary: A place for snippets/expansions on various chapters from Mystic Falls Redux


_"_ _I told you it was crazy."_

 _"How? What? When?"_

 _"We both died around the same time. Me in my world, she here. Remember that freak lightning storm that cut off all the power in the hospital? That was the moment we switched. I've been here ever since."_

 _"Where did she go?"_

 _"This is the part where I'm afraid people will hate me. She's dead. We were each given a choice, and I chose to keep living, she chose to give up and pass on."_

* * *

Bonnie wasn't looking at him. But he was most definitely looking at her. A dangerous silence stretched between them and Kai was torn between screaming from outrage and vomiting. Opting to do neither, he lifted himself off the couch and made for the door. Part of him knew he shouldn't leave during such a precarious moment, but Kai was on the verge of a meltdown of some form and he couldn't let Bonnie see him like that.

He didn't know when he'd started running. He hadn't even taken the elevator. Instead, he ran down the stairs. By the time he reached the ground floor, sweat tinged his brow and the collar of his shirt was partially soaked.

He kept running.

Kai's legs ate up the ground as he blew past other pedestrians meandering the streets of downtown Portland. They barely gave him a second glance unless his body brushed against theirs rougher than he'd intended. Whenever he came across a crosswalk that didn't allow for him to keep going, Kai turned a corner and continued on in a dead run.

He didn't stop until he reached a park just on the outskirts of the downtown area. People were walking their dogs, pushing their children in strollers, or throwing Frisbees and having picnics. It was a typical, pleasant Saturday morning but Kai felt like the world no longer made sense. He slowed down and eased his pace back until it was practically a crawl, his feet dragging across the concrete as the soles of his shoes shuffled along the concrete.

'She's dead. We were each given a choice, and I chose to keep living, she chose to give up and pass on.' The words played like a Top 40 song over and over in his head. He tried to make some sense of what he was just told. He wanted to refute it. He needed it to be untrue. There was only one world, right?

How the hell was this even possible?

The urge to light up a cigarette and burn the back of his throat was agonizingly desperate. Fishing into his pockets, he was both disappointed and relieved to find a fresh pack inside. He'd picked up some on the way from grabbing donuts earlier that morning. It wasn't necessarily because he needed it - he hadn't needed one in quite some time. It was just a nasty habit he couldn't shake and he'd asked for the Camels before he'd realized it - swiping his card and it dawning on him after the fact.

Kai looked at the pack for a long time - his fingers curling around it slowly until he crumpled it up and tossed it into a nearby waste basket. No. There was no point to it. He was getting better about that nasty habit and he sure as hell wasn't about to start now. Besides, Bonnie hadn't been a fan of smoking anyway…

But which Bonnie was the Bonnie he knew? Which was the one he actually cared about? Over the last few months, Kai had noticed the changes and they hadn't been subtle either. Nothing about Bonnie was subtle or hidden anymore- not the one he called his girlfriend, anyway. And yet this Bonnie, the one who had just told him that he was currently living Season 4 of Eureka, was even more honest than the Bonnie he had come to know over the years. She didn't necessary wear her feelings on her sleeves, but she didn't pull any punches either. He'd never known Bonnie to lie about anything. She couldn't, her poker face was practically non-existent.

Or it used to be.

And yet, wasn't that one of the many reasons that he'd come to like Bonnie even more? In the beginning, Kai had attributed it to the accident - to her finally putting her foot down and not taking anyone's shit anymore. She'd stopped caring what people thought of her and freely spoke her mind. She was a miniature tornado and if no one stood clear, they got blown away and left confused in the aftermath. Kai had even found himself laughing more with her than he had with the Bonnie he'd fallen for all those years ago.

What had attracted him to Bonnie in the beginning? His Bonnie, that is. Sure, she was pretty and her voice had a gentle lilt to it. Her smile and laugh had him freezing in his steps more times than he could count. But when she wasn't with her grandmother, even Bonnie's smile had a phantom shell of hurt overlayed on top of it. Kai was no white knight by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a part of him that often felt like he had to protect her when she put herself in harm's way - intentional or not.

And yet there was a spark there behind the sadness - a soft, glowing ember that refused to get snuffed out. Something that said that she was still there and ready to fight, but on her terms. It was the one light in Bonnie that he hoped would eventually flare into a raging fire and overtake everything and everyone around her.

Was that why this Bonnie, the new Bonnie, had seemed even more dangerous and alluring to him? It was like Kai was getting to know her all over again and there were times when he often wondered why her temperament (which was so much like fire and ice) blazed over him harder and more fiercely than the others. Guarded and with a much more no-nonsense sort of attitude, Kai was beginning to really believe that she was finally coming out of her shell. That she was becoming the Bonnie that she was always meant to be.

With a start, he realized he had already sorted them into different categories of Before and After. Before Bonnie was quiet and reserved, content to stay in the background, not willing to rock the boat in anyway, except when it came to Damon.

After Bonnie was still reserved, but in a way that let you know she was still paying attention. She hovered in the background, yes, but not for the same reasons. This new Bonnie watched everyone around her just as much as Kai had watched only her, filing away bits of information for later use. She would let others lead the conversation, and only chip in a comment or two. Now that he knows what to look for, he wants to kick himself for not noticing sooner.

He sank onto a nearby bench, slouching as he kicked his legs out and stared up at the sky. Months of watching her after miraculous recovery, and he'd failed to see the signs. There were more than just a few occasions where Bonnie seemed to have forgotten important events in her life. Moments where someone would counter a statement she made and he'd watch as her face went blank, or worse were the times where she'd get this sad and wistful look on her face. As if she knew she had missed out on something important, and would never be able to get it back.

He and the others had chalked it up to the accident. She had gone through an enormous amount of trauma, which was bound to have some side effects on someone, right?

They were all idiots, apparently.

There was a gleam in her eyes now that he'd never seen before in all of the years he'd known her. A gleam that screamed (to him at least) 'I know something you don't know'. He snorts inelegantly, oh yes, she knew a lot of things that they didn't know.

A part of him felt guilty for even feeling a sense of relief and gratitude for the accident ever happening in the first place. After all, had this Bonnie not chosen to fight for her life and live, they both would have been gone forever. Kai felt his heart stutter even thinking such a thing, no, he'd take Bonnie Bennett-Hopkins in any way he could get her. Even if this one gave him nothing but hell in the beginning. In a way, trying to get her to trust him all over again was a challenge he was happy to have thrown at him and he readily accepted it.

He'd never said it, but his heart had been broken for years over Bonnie and the needlessly painful situations she'd placed herself in. However, he'd mistakenly taken a page from everyone else's book. They all had retreated and left Bonnie to her own devices. Kai assumed that since they had known her longer that this was the best course of action. But now that he looked back on all those years, they'd all abandoned her in their own way. When she needed them the most, whether she realized it then or not, no one had been there for her the way that was necessary.

This Bonnie had proven she was a fighter, she didn't necessarily need people in her corner. It was nice that they were there offering love and support, but she didn't need them. The few scarce moments that she had her guard down in the beginning, he'd watched some of her interactions with her friends. She had always looked shocked when someone made the time to visit. Like she couldn't believe that people were actually taking the time out of their day to come and see how she was.

Was it because of her old life? How long had she been fighting for herself, protecting herself, and making sure that no one dared to walk all over her ever again? Had this Bonnie been like his Bonnie in her world? A world where she had been alone with no one in her corner?

Was that why she was sent to this place; to this universe? Because, in a way, the two of them weren't all that different after all?

The frown on his face started to dissolve into a smile which soon turned into a chuckle. After a few seconds, there was a full on laugh as a memory replayed in his mind. It was so insignificant, and yet, it was the most prominent memory at the forefront of his mind at that moment.

And it was over potato salad.

* * *

 _"...what the hell is this?"_

 _Kai looked at Bonnie as he slid into one of the empty chairs over by the breakfast nook in Sheila's kitchen. "Potato salad."_

 _She was standing at the island, opening up the container of potato salad and peering inside. He had been perfecting the recipe that Sheila made for holiday meals, though he never understood Bonnie's love of potato salad. Especially with raisins. But to each their own._

 _Bonnie cut her eyes at him as she held the container out to show him the inside of it. It was just potato salad, made like all the other times Sheila had in the past. He didn't understand the disgruntled look on her face._

 _"No, I mean what the hell is this in it, Kai?"_

 _He grinned, shrugging as he held up his hand. "Potatoes, celery, carrots, mayonnaise, mustard, a splash of pickle juice, raisins…" He ticked off each ingredient with a finger._

 _She set the container down roughly on the counter and this made Kai stop talking. "Why are there raisins in this?" Bonnie looked back into the container and frowned. "Are you out of your mind?"_

 _Kai blinked. "You like raisins."_

 _Bonnie rounded on him like he'd grown a second head. "Since when?"_

 _"Since always." Her nose wrinkled up in disgust and he laughed. "What? Don't blame me for your weird tastes in food. I just do what I'm told."_

 _"That," she said slowly before looking back at the container, "is disgusting." She pushed the potato salad away from her. "Grams never makes it with raisins."_

 _"No, but you add it in when you eat. I decided to save you the trouble." He watched closely as her face did that thing lately where it goes absolutely blank before she snapped out of it._

 _Bonnie glared at him before slapping the lid to the container closed. "I'm not a child."_

 _Kai pouted, propping his cheek on his fist. "Could've fooled me, Miss Picks At My Food." Her eyes narrowed and yet he wasn't intimidated. In fact, she looked fucking adorable. He shrugged. "Okay then, what do you want in it from now on?"_

 _She seemed to consider this for a minute before leaning over the counter so she could rest her elbows on the surface. "Dice up some green apples next time and I'll think about forgiving you for tarnishing the potato salad's reputation."_

 _Now it was Kai's turn to recoil slightly. "Green apples?" What in the world was she thinking? Then again, that didn't sound half bad either. "Are you serious?"_

 _"Dead serious. Don't even think about putting raisins in it or I'm telling everyone about your disgusting peanut butter habit."_

 _"So?" Kai snickered, his brows raising slightly. Like that was supposed to scare him. "You think I care about people knowing I like to eat it out the jar with a soup spoon? Because I don't."_

 _Bonnie groaned, burying her head into the crooks of her arms as she kicked her legs back and forth behind her. She looked like a child throwing a tantrum - like she hated that she couldn't one-up him in the teasing department. Sometimes she did. Sometimes she didn't. The times that she didn't, he let her beat him in UNO to make up for it._

 _Suddenly, she jerked her head up and puffed one of her cheeks out - her green eyes glinting with a threatening light that he just couldn't take seriously. "I'm going to find something, Kai Parker. You just wait!"_

 _"I'll be waiting, Bonster." He grinned. "I'll be waiting."_

* * *

It should have been the most obvious neon sign for him, and yet he'd been so happy for her to be so open with her wants to him that Kai hadn't really put two and two together. But it was the damn potato salad! He'd heard of people's taste in food changing over the years, but a quick turnaround such as that? It should have keyed him in that something pivotal had happened. Of all people, he knew just how much Bonnie liked her food, she had never been shy about disclosing that.

Shaking his head, he laughed again and realized just how much he knew her - this new Bonnie. He knew her and had come to know her more and more over the months. This Bonnie had shared more information about herself (albeit sometimes unknowingly) since she had woken up, than the other Bonnie had the entire time he'd known her. She was very clear on her wants and needs, as well as what she expected from those around her.

And now he wondered if he ever really knew that Bonnie at all. But at the end of the day, did it really matter? The old Bonnie had chosen to give up and leave her painful life behind. She didn't understand the world around her, the friends who were willing to tear down the Great Wall if necessary. Granted, they hadn't always been the best at showing their love and appreciation, but it was there for the taking.

But at the same time, wasn't that because she was the person she was now? Everyone had come back full circle after her accident but it wasn't until she had clearly displayed a 180 in her personality that they really had her back. It should have been this way from the beginning, even after all the shit with Damon and Elena had gone down. Sadly, that wasn't the case. They all should have been fighting alongside her all those years ago instead of waiting for her to fight for herself.

Jumping up from the bench, he slapped his cheeks a couple of times and stretched his arms over his head. Kai had to accept that she was gone; that the Bonnie he'd known for years was well and truly gone. He and everyone else had gotten a gift that they hadn't even noticed, and because of that gift, this Bonnie would receive all the love that she could handle and then some. This Bonnie wasn't alone anymore and didn't need to worry about being left behind. This Bonnie would keep fighting for herself and for those who fought for her.

This Bonnie was the one Kai knew he could trust. He cared about her, respected her, and more than anything else, this Bonnie made him feel something that he hadn't felt before. With the old Bonnie or with anyone.

Regardless of how it happened, this Bonnie? Well, this was the Bonnie Bennett that he loved.

* * *

A/N: The amazing StudioEden once again was gracious enough to lend her magic touch to this, I stepped in here and there, but it's mostly her take on what Kai is thinking when he leaves the hotel room after Bonnie spills the beans.


End file.
